Nicole Snyder

As a health and wellness advocate, Yoga is an essential part of my daily life as well as eating good and healthy food, getting enough rest, and taking care of myself both emotionally and physically.  I fell in love with Yoga nearly 10 years ago when I moved from where I grew up in Chicago to lovely city of Los Angeles.  I was hiking one day at canyon near my house when I saw someone teaching on a grassy area that I pass by to get to my hiking trail.  His sign read "community yoga, donations accepted but not expected."  How could I resist?  Well needless to say I was hooked from then on. 

I started with Hatha, then I got to know Anusara, iyengar, and one of my favorite Hybrid's, Budokon created by Cameron Shane.  I then found Bikram, Forest, Mysore and Ashtanga and the list goes on.  To me they're all great.  Sure I have my favorites, but it depends on how my body is feeling that day.  Four years after I started practicing I discovered that I wanted to deepen my practice and enroll in the Yogaworks 200 HR teacher training program.  I wasn't sure at the time if I wanted to teach, but midway through the program I knew that I wanted to share yoga with everyone I knew.  That was one of the best times of my life, nothing but yoga for 6 or so hours a day and 5 days per week. My teachers were absolutely amazing, I learned so much and it changed my life.

I have always taught small group classes anywhere between 2-20 people, and most of what I teach is Hatha more on the gentle yoga style of things.  I'm classically trained to teach Hatha yoga but I'm known to throw a few moves in from Budokon or some of my other favorites.  I have only taught adults, but my next move is to take a children's yoga certification class.

I am also a huge animal rescue advocate.  I have two of the most amazing mutts, and from time to time I'll have a foster pup in the house until I find the perfect permanent home for him or her.  I work full-time for the largest technology distributor in the world, and I absolutely love it.  I work on the Business Intelligence team with some of the smartest people I have ever met in my entire life.  I love this place for so many reasons, one of the most important being that I met the love of my life here and I am patiently (trying) waiting to marry him!

Teaching is so much fun!  I love practicing with everyone, and I don't even feel like the teacher, I feel like the kid in the class who wants to talk out of turn all of the time. :)